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What bass player inspired you to start playing?

#127
You guys can laugh, but the first time I saw Def Leppards "Pour Some Sugar On Me" video, I just had to learn to play bass so that I could get a Hamer Scarab. (I still dont own one by the way). Then I saw a video of Billy Sheehan play and it was over for me.
 
#129
Primary influences - Geddy Lee and John Myung

Secondary influences - Steve Harris and Cliff Burton

I started playing sometime in my mid to late teens, and these were the bassists that made me want to emulate what they did on bass. To this day, Geddy and Myung remain my biggest influences. There's just something about their lines and how they lay down in the mix that I find irresistable and intoxicating. Never tire of those two...
 
#131
Actually...and this is pretty funny...it was Mike Dirnt! Yea, he was the first bass player I could actually HEAR on the radio. And he was doing some groovy stuff. I was like "Whoa, I HAVE to get a bass"! It was'nt long after I borrowed a bass guitar from my high school and started learning some of the jazz charts. It was just a hobby till I heard Jaco, though...then I heard Geddy Lee and that got me into singing leads...
 
#134
Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power (the very definition of "in the pocket" playing)....and Victor Wooten (just a 1000% inspiring and disgusting playing--at the same time...incredible!)

Although I have a decade and a half to catch up to them (yep...I've done the math), I feel completely refreshed anytime I listen to either one of them.

And I can't forget Verdine White of Earth, Wind, and Fire....wow.......!

AVC
*****Insert clever or inane quote here*******
Click to expand...
 
#135
I started playing in the late 70's / Early 80s. My biggest influences, the people whose songs I wanted to learn and whose lines I payed close attention to were:

Sting - I learned the entire album "Regatta De Blanc". I would put it on and play along the whole way beginning to end.

John Entwistle I couldn't really play the stuff because a lot of it was too hard, but I tried!

J J Burnel I loved "The Stranglers" which featured JJ's aggressive bass lines and sound proiminently. I learned a bunch of the stuff.

They were my biggest influences that got me started and kept me going early on. Another player who deserves honorable mention is Gerald V Casale. His bass work on those early DEVO albums was ingrained in my mind as was Paul Gardiner's work with Gary Numan. Also Graham Maby with Joe Jackson was a big influence. That "Look Sharp" CD is something else.
 
#136
Personally.. for me it had to be.. I know i'm gonna get beat for saying it but.. Jason Newsted when I first started to really listen to music.. My buddy asked me to get a bass and jam with him since he knew some guitarists.. funny thing is... me and him have yet to play together and that was like 3 years ago.. I've only played with one band and didn't play for like a year and half just got back into playing. Anyway.. yeah Jason Newsted and later as I listened to more Tallica.. Cliff.. RIP! .. He was the ****.. No way I can match his sounds and skill.. but meh.. I'll try anything till it kills me.
 

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